Christmas at the Morris House

I love the simplicity of our Christmas. I love that I rarely ever get stressed about it, it doesn't break our bank account and we get to spend some quality time with others. Here's a picture of our Christmas this year....

Every Christmas Eve our church does an incredible service. Most of the time I am involved. Last year I took a break and missed it incredibly! There are just some gifts, talents and passions that are hard to take a break from. So this year I was involved with the choir. It was a crazy week with practices but during these practices I made new friendships and reconnected with old friends. I loved that part just as much as I loved being part of the service. I love sharing life with my dear friends who love the Lord and serve Him. The work put in to this service requires so many hours for so many involved and it was very well done. I'm thankful to work with men and women who use their time and talents for the Lord. From the beautiful violin music in the foyer to the candle lights, and winter themed stage with a huge waterfall, to worship, to teaching, to a great meal...it was a beautiful night.

Then this morning the boys woke up a little before 7am. Typically Jeff and I don't exchange gifts but we do purchase gifts for those we love. The boys have been anticipating this morning but we try to keep it very low key. I hate to see greed at Christmas (I'm guilty of it too), especially in my children. They each got some fun useful things but they did get one big gift each (a wii game). They loved the simplicity of it and truly enjoyed it because they weren't overwhelmed by so many things. Then we had a big breakfast together but the boys didn't care to eat much because they wanted to get to their games. In addition, we plan to do a few more fun things as a family before Christmas break is over.

This afternoon we will head to my parents house (which is around the corner about 2 miles away) to enjoy an evening together with my small family. In the meantime we'll take a nap, finish up food prep for tonight and watch a movie. In between all of that the boys will be playing the wii with Dad. A favorite for them all! Most of all we love the family time since we don't get many days in a year to just be at home together all day.

I am thankful to the Lord for coming as our savior to save us. It's not about this day we mark on the calendar to celebrate his birth. It's about eternal life with Him and living daily for Him.